Organised by Psychosocial Studies & Birkbeck Institute for Social Research

This conference, the first of its kind in the UK, addresses the remarkable projects of certain groups working in Gaza, Israel and the West Bank involved in joint resistance to ongoing military conflict and occupation. Working for mental health and human rights on the front lines involving military aggression, internal group violence, systemic interference with basic human rights, brutalization on many fronts and deep pessimism on all sides, speakers will address any and all resources for combined resistance and shared hope, whether close to home or coming from abroad. The recent catastrophic attack on the civilian population of Gaza, at the eye of the storm of sites of conflict in Western eyes, makes this event both critical and significant.

Themes:

*Survival and Non-Violent Resistance in Gaza and the West Bank

*Psychoactive Political Resistance in Israel.

*Possibilities and Limitations of Therapeutic Approaches to Conflict Resolution.

Barry Amiel & Norman Melburn Trust: http://www.amielandmelburn.org.uk/ The general objectives of the Trust are to advance public education,
learning and knowledge in all aspects of the philosophy of Marxism, the history of socialism, and the working- class movement.

FFIPPI http://www.ffipp.org/about_us is an international network of academics and students that support a complete end to the illegal Israeli occupation of lands seized in the 1967 war and removal of all the settlements and the separation wall built on occupied land.

IJV- Independent Jewish Voices: http://jewishvoices.squarespace.com/israelnext/ "If, at times, it turned violent and involved deadly atrocities, it was not because the perpetrators were Palestinian, or Arab or predominantly Muslim, but because they were an occupied people. "In parallel, if there has been a persistent pattern of serious human rights violations in the occupied territories, it is not because the perpetrators are Israeli, nor even because they are Zionist ... and certainly not because they are Jews. It is because they are occupiers... " Tony Klug, one of the founders of Independent Jewish Voices.